The badly decomposed bodies of a 60-year-old man and his 68-year-old sister were found in a Church-owned flat in Italy's northwestern port city of Genoa on Tuesday after they allegedly starved to death.
Catholic officials made the grim discovery when they entered the apartment in Genoa's Albaro district, after Franco and Renata Ricciardi failed to pay their monthly expenses for the flat and were unreachable by phone.
Renata Ricciardi's body was discovered lying on a bed, while Franco Ricciardi's was found on the floor. A savings book containing 14,000 euros and some powered protein was found in the apartment, whose fridge was completely empty, police said.
Coroners who performed autopsies on the two emaciated bodies said the siblings died from malnutrition around a week ago.
"The deaths of the Ricciardis throws into stark relief the drama of loneliness," Genoa's branch of the Catholic charity Caritas said in a statement.
"They were on the radar of social services. The last contact we had with them was at the start of June when they failed to come and pay their monthly utility bills, which they invariably did with absolute punctuality," Caritas said, adding that the siblings did not have to pay rent.
The Ricciardis kept themselves to themselves, were very private individuals and had cut off contact with social and health workers, Caritas said.
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